VARIETIES OF DISTORTION OF THE NECK. 397 



The condition was doubtless due to subluxation between the 2nd 

 and 3rd cervical vertebrae. 



Werner saw a horse which after running into and striking a 

 carriage with its head lay senseless for three minutes, but on getting 

 up was able to resume work. Ten hours later the head was bent 

 towards the right ; on the left side of the neck over the second cervical 

 vertebra was a marked swelling. The gait was unsteady. The neck 

 could not be brought into a straight line. Post-mortem examination 

 showed a transverse fracture of the second cervical vertebra and 

 submeningeal haemorrhage. 



Mongiardino had the opportunity of making autopsies on two 

 horses showing torticollis. In one the intervertebral discs between 

 the 3rd, 4th, and 5th cervical vertebrae were partly torn through. 

 The head of the fourth vertebra slipped partly out of the cup of the 

 third when the neck was bent. In the other case the capsular 

 ligaments on the convex side of the neck were strained so that 

 the articular surfaces no longer corresponded. The cervical muscles 

 on the convex side were paralysed and had undergone atrophy. 



A horse mentioned by Grams had hung back on a halter ; when 

 its head was turned towards the right the middle of the neck sprang 

 outwards, when towards the left the dislocation was reduced. The 

 animal recovered after the application of a special splint. 



The case described by Martin {The Veterinarian, 1896) as 

 dislocation of the cervical vertebrae may have been a subluxation 

 or only a muscular injury. The pony had been " cast " with its off 

 hind shoe fixed in the head collar, probably for a considerable time. 

 Attempts at replacing the parts produced staggering, strabismus, 

 convulsive picking up of the hind-legs, and spasms of the body muscles. 

 Splints were applied to the neck and the animal was tied up, but 

 fell during the night and pulled down a beam. On the sixth day 

 after the accident improvement was noticeable and the splints were 

 readjusted. In less than three weeks recovery was complete. 



Hering's failure to produce the condition artifically in the horse 

 does not disprove the occurrence of such subluxations and fractures, 

 but only shows that simple injuries to the muscles produce changes 

 in the carriage of the neck. Gerlach observed the disease in cows 

 and horses, and described it as distortion of the cervical vertebrae. 

 With incomplete displacement of the latter, the head is directed 

 sometimes to one side (abduction-luxation) ; but sometimes the 

 neck undergoes more or less pronounced rotation (rotation-luxation), 

 which, strictly speaking, alone corresponds with torticollis. The 

 condition is seen most frequently in horses, which, when scratching 



